Days 5, 6, 7, and 8: No Place to Go but Everywhere in Colorado

"Only the wild ones

Are the ones you can never catch

Stars are up now no place to go, but everywhere"

-"Only the Wild Ones" by Dispatch

This was our second trip to Colorado as a couple and RJ's third trip to Colorado overall.  Neither of us had ever driven in before.  We were surprised after crossing the Colorado border to learn that the first two hours or so of the drive was very flat and empty with even less civilization than Kansas!  Lucky we've been keeping our gas tank from dropping below half very often, because it was quite a drive into Colorado before we found a place to stop and fuel up and use the bathrooms.  We caught our first glimpse of the mountains about 30-40 miles outside of Denver, and then the drive started getting more interesting and we started feeling like the end of our long day of driving was in sight.

We weren't able to book any rooms for the entire five nights we were staying, so we split up our stay between two different hotels.  For the first two nights, we stayed in Central City, CO, which is up in the mountains in an old gold mining town.  It still looks a lot like an old gold mining town, but it is now a casino town.  There wasn't much of anything up there besides the casinos, but the driving and the views were spectacular!  RJ spent a good portion of the first full day in Colorado driving up and down the surrounding mountains.  We found a great lunch spot in Nederland called Wondervu Cafe at the top of a wonderfully windy road.  Their Mexican food and views were amazing, but our bodies were still new to the altitude, so windy roads, 8,888 ft. of elevation, and Mexican food meant it was time for a rest back at the hotel!

Colorado was one of the states where we were looking forward to meeting up with friends on our trip, and we had a great time!  We are so appreciative to Erin and T.J. for sharing their new state with us and making time for us to get together and reconnect.  We spent Thursday night having dinner and drinks in Boulder.  What a fun city!  The Pearl Street Mall was a great, walkable strip of shops, restaurants, and bars.  Friday night we had game night and pool time at Erin and T.J.'s place, which was a nice break from being on the move so much.  And Saturday morning we headed to the mountains for a spectacular hike to Blue Lake.  We were both looking forward to doing some real Rocky Mountain hiking on this trip, and the Blue Lake hike did not disappoint.  Thank you, Erin and T.J., for sharing it with us!  The log bridge R.J. is crossing above was just one of the many cool features of this hike.  Check out our slideshow at the bottom of this post to see more photos from our Blue Lake hike.  It was just stunning!

Sunday was our last full day in Colorado, so we decided to take it slow and rest our weary hiking legs.  Because we were splitting up our hotel rooms over two locations, we had moved to a hotel called the Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield, CO.  This hotel was amazing for the price.  The staff were extremely professional and helpful, there was a fantastic outdoor pool and hot tub area with food and bar service, and there was a really nice fitness center and spa.  On Sunday morning, we had an amazing breakfast at a place called Doug's Day Diner in Broomfield.  Their bacon was some of the best we've ever had, and their griddle biscuits with homemade jam were incredibly tasty!  This was one of those meals that we will remember long after the trip was over.  After breakfast, we caught up on some laundry and relaxed in the pool for a bit.  Then, it was time to head to Morrison, CO for our second ever concert at Red Rocks amphitheater!  If you have never been to a show at Red Rocks, you absolutely have to consider it if you have the opportunity.  The views are amazing, the sound is about as acoustically perfect as it gets, and there isn't a bad seat in the house.  

The band we went to see is called the Avett Brothers.  They don't have any major radio hits, but we discovered their music through one of our Pandora stations.  They play a wide variety of styles from ballads to rock to folk to gospel.  Their musicianship both vocally and instrumentally is phenomenal, and Red Rocks only made them sound even better.  Their lyrics are great as well.  We were both moved nearly to tears by the music at different points in the show.  The slideshow above has our photos from the Blue Lake hike with one of our favorite Avett Brothers songs - Perfect Space - for you to enjoy.  

While we were waiting for the concert to begin, we found out another friend from home was in the area, and we made plans to meet up.  Serendipity!  This trip has been all about adventure, music, and friendship, and this was another good sign for the path we were traveling.